Born in 1830 and named Jeremiah Prophet Elias Kumler in full,[2] the house's first owner spent parts of his early life farming and working as a merchant, but he later became the first banker in Oxford.

By the 1850s, Kumler had become wealthy enough to engage in philanthropy, donating money in 1856 toward the construction of the Junction Railway between Hamilton, Ohio and Connersville, Indiana.

[3] He also served Oxford's two women's colleges and a Cincinnati seminary, sitting on the board of trustees for the Western College for Women from 1871 to 1898,[2] acting as a trustee for the Oxford Female Institute, giving funds to found the endowment for the Lane Theological Seminary,[3] providing money to rescue Western when it was nearly bankrupt,[4] and financing the Female Institute.

No longer home to its owners, the house deteriorated to the point that Oxford's city government condemned it as a danger to public safety.

[3] Built of brick with elements of wood and sandstone,[5] and resting on a foundation of ashlar,[6] the house is one-and-a-half stories tall with a steep gabled roof.